Hot diggidy! Another big huge food exhibition. And once again I blagged free tickets from work to go! (Thanks, Nora!)
This time it was the BBC Good Food Masterchef Live show at Kensington Olympia in London. I couldn't believe my eyes when we walked through the entrance - that place is enormous! We didn't even know where to begin! (Certainly not at the coat-check with the 20 minute long queue!) There were rows upon rows of booths from various producers and food companies. Michelin starred restaurants offering samples of their food. Theatres, masterclasses, tastings, and a Japanese food pavilion. (Heaven!)
Me being a Canadian girl and all, I was a little overwhelmed with the ridiculous crowds. It was a bit like being on the Victoria Line during rush hour, but with no one knowing where they're going. Hoards of middle-class foodies trying to keep hold of their English civility while being crushed in a crowd, grabbing samples of organic Wiltshire smoked cheese and brightly decorated cupcakes. There wasn't enough room to bring a cat, let alone swing one. I kept having to find empty corners to stand in and breathe.
But the excitement of it all more than made up for it! I saw James Martin in the flesh. John Torode, THE John Torode was right beside me! Harumi Kurihara was cooking before my very eyes! We ate the best Udon noodles outside of Japan at the Oishii pavilion. We met loads of lovely people, and ate loads of lovely food. We bought bottles of oil, fresh buffalo mozzarella, hot sauces, coffee beans....
There was an overwhelming amount of ethical organic blah-dee-blah going on. I'm as in to this as anyone else right now, but one company really impressed me as we were walking around: The Coffee Fairy. These lovely girls sell coffee beans direct from farmers in a town in Nicaragua, where the founder spent time teaching English. You can sign up for a coffee subscription, and all the money goes towards helping schools in the area. They haven't been around for very long, but they've already raised enough money to buy all new desks, and re-do the toilets in the school.
This really got me excited! I've never been a fan of fair-trade. Companies like Sainsbury's and Tesco make a big deal out of fair-trade because they know they can pull on our heart strings and make us spend more money. And maybe the farmers do get a better deal. But the supermarket sure isn't making any sacrifices! They've got the same big profit margin on the fair-trade coffee as they do on the cheapo stuff. (Maybe bigger). The responsibility is left to the consumer alone to pay more.
So I loved this idea. Martina Gruppo imports the beans direct from the farmers, and sells it in London at a fair price. Apparently the stuff is great. I wouldn't know - I'm a tea girl. But the sample I tried was pretty drinkable, even for a coffee-phobe like me.
The Oishii Japan pavilion was fantastic. It was Harumi Kurihara (the Japanese Martha Stewart) and her entourage of about 30 chefs and tourism commission people from Japan. We bought a bowl of Udon noodles to share, that brought back great memories of our honeymoon in Japan. The Husband even ordered in Japanese, much to their squealing delight!
I missed the best bit of the whole day though.... lovely Nora from work represented the Good Food Channel in the Invention Test! She'll be blogging about it soon, so I'll stick a link up of her successful salmon and Hollandaise sauce, which Greg Wallace declared good. Go Nora!
